Takeoff performance, as currently practiced in the air transport industry involves a series of steps, many of which involve manual crew input. In addition, the primary means of catching errors in this process typically relies on manual cross-checks between the crew.
Many airlines are now using electronic flight bags and/or laptop computers to replace the paper performance data that has been traditionally used. These devices typically host an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)-approved performance calculation tool that will provide the pilot with the predicted takeoff performance data. These tools typically require the manual entry of relevant aircraft and atmospheric data before the calculation can be made. The output of these calculations then has to be manually transferred by the pilots into the flight management system (FMS). This includes V-speeds, weight, and thrust setting. However, human error can occur in this process.